‘Leaving Neverland’ has shocked viewers at this year’s Sundance Festival and will air on television in Spring
The new Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland has received a strong reaction after screening at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Friday.
Leaving Neverland is a four-hour long, two-part documentary focuses on Jackson’s child sexual abuse scandals. The film features interviews with James Safechuck and Wade Robson, two men who allege they were abused by Jackson when they were 7 and 10, and their respective families, who reveal “a portrait of sustained exploitation and deception, documenting the power of celebrity that allowed a revered figure to infiltrate the lives of starstruck children and their parents”.
During the midway interval at the screening, several reporters shared their initial responses to the documentary on Twitter, which included one journalist stating that: “Whatever you thought you knew or were aware of, the content of this is more disturbing than you could imagine.”
Here are some of the tweets:
https://twitter.com/kpfallon/status/1088867755149815808
https://twitter.com/davidehrlich/status/1088867401607786496
Feel sick to my stomach after watching Part 1 of #LeavingNeverland doc. Michael Jackson witnesses/sex abuse victims coming off very credible. It’s so sexually explicit that counselors are in the lobby. #SundanceFilmFestival2019
— Mara Reinstein (@MaraReinstein) January 25, 2019
Shaking. Wow. We were all wrong when we cheered for Michael Jackson. He was a pedophile. #LeavingNeverland #SundanceFilmFestival2019
— Mara Reinstein (@MaraReinstein) January 25, 2019
Leaving Neverland is gutting, heartbreaking, harrowing. Less an adjudication of Michael Jackson’s cultural legacy than a blow-by-blow of the effects of his crimes. Holy fuck.
— Matt Jacobs (@majacobs) January 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/GerrickKennedy/status/1088899721408573441
At the end of the screening, Safechuck and Robson reportedly took to the stage amid a standing ovation.
Ahead of the film’s premiere on Friday, Michael Jackson’s estate issued a statement on the film question its accuracy.
“This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson,” the statement said.
“Wade Robson and James Safechuck have both testified under oath that Michael never did anything inappropriate toward them. Safechuck and Robson, the latter a self-proclaimed ‘master of deception,’ filed lawsuits against Michael’s Estate, asking for millions of dollars. Both lawsuits were dismissed.
“This so-called ‘documentary’ is just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations. It’s baffling why any credible filmmaker would involve himself with this project.”
Both Robson’s and Safechuck’s lawsuits were dismissed at the time. In 2005 Jackson was acquitted of molestation charges and in 1993 the singer agreed a financial settlement after he was accused of molesting an underage boy.
Lasting Neverland will air on HBO in Spring.
